A gay man who was sent to a conversion camp by his own family after they threatened to disown him, wrote a memoir about his life that has now been turned into a Hollywood film.
Garrard Conley, 33, from Arkansas, was forced to go to Restoration Path – one of America’s most notorious conversion camps that specialised in ‘praying the gay away’, reaffirming ‘gender identity and roles’ and saving souls.
It pushed him to the brink of suicide and took several years to finally come to terms with his real identity, before meeting his husband and writing his memoir ‘Boy Erased’.
He appeared on ITV’s This Morning on Tuesday where he said that the camp was like ‘talk therapy’, where he was treated as a ‘sex addict’ alongside paedophiles and those guilty of bestiality.
Garrard Conley, from Arkansas, was sent to one of America’s most notorious conversion camps aged 19 after he was outed to his parents
![Garrard recalled his experience at the camp which specialised in ‘praying the gay away’, reaffirming ‘gender identity and roles’ and saving souls](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/12/12/4D27647F00000578-5834571-image-m-30_1528801791656.jpg)
Garrard recalled his experience at the camp which specialised in ‘praying the gay away’, reaffirming ‘gender identity and roles’ and saving souls
![Garrard's memoir, Boy Erased, has been made into a film starring Nicole Kidman as his mother. He is pictured with her on the set of the film](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/12/13/4D28127200000578-5834571-image-a-50_1528805683904.jpg)
Garrard’s memoir, Boy Erased, has been made into a film starring Nicole Kidman as his mother. He is pictured with her on the set of the film
The author explained to presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that his father, a Baptist pastor, had given him an ultimatum – either go to the camp to ‘cure’ his homosexuality or risk being cut off from his family with no money for his college education.
When a friend – who he said had also raped him as a child – ‘outed’ him aged 19 in 2004 to his parents, he was was enrolled in the Memphis branch of ‘Love In Action’, the largest ‘ex-gay’ therapy organisation in the country.
‘My dad took me into his bedroom and told me that there was only two options go to conversion therapy or you won’t see your family and we wont pay for your education,’ he recalled.
Garrard was sent to Restoration Path, which was known as Love in Action until March 2012, an ex-gay Christian ministry founded in 1973 by Frank Worthen, John Evans, and Kent Philpott.
![The activist and speaker spoke of his time during his six-month stay, which he said took him over a decade to write about after he finished the course](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/12/12/4D279BF500000578-0-image-a-28_1528801588803.jpg)
The activist and speaker spoke of his time during his six-month stay, which he said took him over a decade to write about after he finished the course
![Russel Crowe and Nicole Kidman are starring as Garrard's parents in the film version of his book Boy Erased](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/12/12/4D27C23A00000578-5834571-image-a-41_1528801929943.jpg)
Russel Crowe and Nicole Kidman are starring as Garrard’s parents in the film version of his book Boy Erased
![Garrard spent six months at conversion therapy where he said he was treated like a sex addict](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/12/13/4D28127E00000578-5834571-image-a-53_1528805705607.jpg)
Garrard spent six months at conversion therapy where he said he was treated like a sex addict
The activist and speaker spoke of his time during his six-month stay, which he said took him more than a decade to write about after he finished the course.
‘I describe it as talk therapy, it’s sort of psychotherapy in a group.
‘They sat you next to a lot of people dealing with different issues. I was sitting next to a man, I was 19, who was dealing with paedophilia, and I was sitting next to another woman who was dealing with bestiality.
‘We were all seen as sexual addicts. They borrowed from Alcoholics Anonymous, they borrowed from everything.’
![His mother, right, supported her son after he came out and has since joined him on his book tour and starred in the film as an extra. Garrard pictured with his aunt, left, and mother](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/12/13/4D28127600000578-5834571-image-a-54_1528805719216.jpg)
His mother, right, supported her son after he came out and has since joined him on his book tour and starred in the film as an extra. Garrard pictured with his aunt, left, and mother
After growing up in a deeply religious Arkansas community, Garrard, who now lives in New York with his husband, felt the only option was to attend camp to avoid losing everything he had.
Despite being sent away to camp, he explained that he never had any hate for his father or mother, and still has a relationship with them both.
He told the Ark Times site in an interview: ‘It was extremely important to demonstrate the love I share with my family.
‘I believe this is a key ingredient in why I was able to successfully recover from my therapy sessions.’
As well as an author, on his site Garrard is listed as an activist and speaker for Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau, travelling across the country lecturing at schools and venues across the country on radical compassion.
![Garrard's memoir was released in the US in 2016 and is set for UK release this week, it has also been turned into a film](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/12/13/4D27C23400000578-5834571-Garrard_s_memoir_was_released_in_the_US_in_2016_and_is_set_for_U-m-56_1528806777657.jpg)
Garrard’s memoir was released in the US in 2016 and is set for UK release this week, it has also been turned into a film
Garrard’s book, Boy Erased which was released in the US in 2016 and is set for UK release this week, tells his story of his childhood growing up in Arkansas and living with his father a former car salesperson who became a Baptist minister and his mother a homemaker.
It has been made into a film which will be out in 2020 starring starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe.
Nicole will play the protagonist’s mother, Nancy Conley, while Russell is cast as his father, Marshall. Three Billboards actor Lucas Hedges takes on the role of Garrard.
Garrard revealed that he starred as an extra in the picture and also bagged parts for his husband and mother too.
His mother has learned to support him for who he is and Garrard added that his father is dealing with his sexuality in the best way he can.
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10.30am